November 5, 2024 • 21 mins
We've heard from so many passionate creators over the past few years about how they're turning a love for ttrpgs into a career. It's time to put their tips into action! I am starting a new mini-series of shorter episodes in between interviews to focus on specific things we've learned from our guests as I launch into multiple ventures of my own. In this kick-off episode, I go over all the different avenues I'm pursuing in growing my own business. Is it too much at once? We'll find out! Let's learn together to find out what works and doesn't work in today's economy.
Find Roll Play Grow:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:32):
Hello friends.
We are going to start somethingnew today, and in today's
episode, it's just going to beme.
My intention when starting thispodcast back in 2021, was to
focus on merging business withTTRPGs.
Now, while Matt isn't able tojoin as my co-host for now, I
did like how we were going to doa deep dive on specific topics
(00:53):
and shorter episodes in betweeninterviews.
And that's something that I wantto keep doing.
I haven't fully decided on howthis is going to look or how
often it'll be yet as talking tomyself for awhile seems strange.
And it is something that I'llhave to get used to.
To kick all of this off.
I am in a period of transitionand starting a lot of new
(01:14):
things.
I thought it could beinteresting for you all if I
went over the current state ofeverything that I'm trying in
this self-employment state.
I'm trying out multipleventures, and I think being
transparent about my processesand what works or doesn't work
could provide you with someideas or inspiration in your own
endeavors.
Plus putting it all out there isa form of accountability for
(01:36):
myself, especially if I plan tokeep you updated on a regular
basis as I go.
As I said, I'm in the middle ofmultiple things that are in the
early stages and it feels kindof like a throw everything at
the wall and see what stickssituation.
Ever since my latest surgery inJanuary, I've had a hard time
being able to sit or stand formore than a few minutes at a
(01:58):
time.
It makes looking for full-timework frankly, feel impossible,
which is part of the reason whyI am trying all of these things
on my own.
It also makes it a bit difficultto work on my projects
consistently, as I never knowhow much time I'll be able to
devote on any given day.
But all that being said, I dohave a lot of ideas and I intend
(02:18):
to do my best to get them going.
Let's break it all down.
In future episodes, if y'all areinterested, I can go into more
detail of exactly what steps I'mtaking for each of these
activities, and maybe even acost breakdown, but for now,
let's just do a high leveloverview of all of it.
First off we, of course have,Lightheart Adventures.
(02:40):
Lightheart is the business thatmy husband and I started back in
2019.
It began as a Brenton writingblog posts, making one-shot
adventures for D&D and drawingbattle maps for those
adventures.
He also published multiple mapcollections for D&D adventures
on DMsGuild.
I worked in the backend on theadmin side of things and created
(03:01):
the website.
We eventually added a Patreonand this podcast and he stopped
making blog posts and theDMsGuild publication so that he
could focus on the one shots forPatreon.
We were able to also add somemore income to the business when
he became a freelance writer forWyrd games, the makers of
Malifaux, and Through theBreach.
(03:22):
So let's talk about where I comein.
I obviously have this podcast.
Sadly, it does not bring anyincome in right now, but that's
all right.
I love chatting with folks, andhonestly, it's been a really
great way to network.
Then about two years ago, Ibecame a project manager for
(03:42):
Burnaway, which was the TTRPGthat has actually a finished
layout and is about to get sentoff to the printers.
So super excited to get thatbook in a few more months and
actually have something with myname in the credits.
That was an interestingsituation because it was that
creator and my first attempt ata Kickstarter.
(04:05):
And so we agreed that I'd keepmy rates pretty low because I
would be learning the processalongside him.
And it's taken a while to get tothis point, but we're here and
it was a fabulous way to learn.
About six months ago, I addedanother client and we will be
launching a few crowdfundingprojects next year.
So combining these experienceswith my decade of full-time
(04:28):
project management roles incorporate settings is why I am
moving forward into the first ofthe new ventures.
Which is that I've officiallyset myself up as a freelance
TTRPG project manager.
This is pretty new.
I was going back and forth for awhile on whether I should set up
(04:49):
a whole new website for myself.
Or if I should just add a pageto the Lightheart Adventures
site and eventually decided tostop using that as a stalling
tactic.
And for now, I just have a newpage on the Lightheart
Adventures website.
It's very much targeted towardsTTRPG projects or other gaming
(05:10):
projects.
I think eventually I can setmyself up to have my own project
management, freelance websitethat makes it a little more
inviting to other industries.
But honestly, the gamingprojects are my favorite and
what I would love to focus on.
Since I just finished settingthis up, all I've really done so
far is just announced that itexists on some social media
(05:34):
platforms and also in a bunch ofdifferent discord servers that
I'm in.
Obviously I need to do a lotmore than that.
But we'll get there.
We'll get there.
I think I spent the most time inthis actual setup process, just
trying to figure out a calendarscheduling system so that people
could just book an appointmentwith me without having to email
(05:58):
me, and go back and forth andjust all of that fun hassle that
adds way too many steps to theprocess.
So if you go to the page, now,what you see is that I've got
three different packages.
The first two have specificprices because it's like, okay,
you're going to hire me for anhour long conversation where you
know what you're doing for themost part.
(06:18):
You just want some advice onlike a specific thing.
The middle package is set up tobe aware.
You can hire me for threesessions that are all an hour
long, and it's essentially tohelp you get kickstarted with
starting your project.
Helping you learn how to make aproject board and what needs to
be on the project board and justgo over specific topics.
(06:39):
You have questions on.
And then the third one, there'sno set price on it because it's
okay.
At that point, you're hiring meto be your project manager.
So we got to talk about whatthat entails and how much
commitment it's going to take.
It's been a lot to get that setup and I have no idea how well
this is going to go, but it'sthe first of the new, big things
(06:59):
that I am starting.
So then there's comes the nextthing, which if you've been
listening to this podcast for awhile, or if you have been
following me on social media fora couple of years, then you'll
know that I have sporadicallybeen working towards starting an
(07:20):
online shop that has nothing todo with project management.
But does kind of have somethingto do with TTRPG related
endeavors.
First, got this idea a couple ofyears ago when I was going
through my first bout of medicalstuff and didn't have a job and
all those fun things.
And essentially I decided that Iwanted to create some nerdy pet
(07:47):
accessories.
There's so many people out therethat make bandanas and bow ties
and collars and all sorts of funthings.
But if you actually try to findlike D&D specific designs.
There's really not a whole lotout there.
You might find a couple withdice.
That's about it.
And so Brenton and I were justchatting and trying to
(08:07):
brainstorm some things that Ifelt like I could do while I was
not able to work full time.
And we came up with this idea tohave Brenton design these
patterns that were based on D&Dclasses.
And that we could have itprinted on fabric that I would
then use to create my ownaccessories.
(08:30):
So I got started with this anddecided that for initial launch,
that we would do four patternsand I came up with four sizes
for collars and bandanas and twosizes for bow ties and that I
would make 10 of each.
So.
10 extra small collars, 10 smallcollars, 10 medium, 10 large
(08:52):
collars.
For each of the four patterns,because I just felt like a good
starting blank.
And then I could see what wasselling and what was not
selling.
And if this was even somethingthat was going to be feasible.
That's all I was working on itoff and on.
In between bouts of medical,flare ups and whatnot.
And then I wound up getting afull-time job and because of the
medical stuff, I just wasn'table to focus on sewing and
(09:17):
actually getting an Etsy storeset up or what have you.
And so it was just a lot.
And I felt really guilty aboutit because I'd been working so
hard towards this.
But I just had to honor my bodyand just be able to focus on the
full-time job and then thispodcast, and then just.
Decided at some point I wasgoing to come back to it.
(09:39):
Fast-forward through three moresurgeries, and now that I'm not
working full time.
It's time to move forward withus.
So I'm honestly in a weirdposition right now where, I've
been putting this off for solong and I really need to get
this going.
And I had this whole plan whereI just spent this last week out
(10:01):
of town about an hour and a halfaway, house sitting and pet
sitting for my sister-in-law.
And decided, okay, I'm going touse this week.
I'm going to get all thelistings set up because I
finally finished sewing thoseinitial ones.
It's going to be great.
And then I'll just launch when Iget back.
And then my dad is now havingsurgery two days before
Thanksgiving.
And I went well..
I have to go to Florida becausegoing to be just scary time,
(10:24):
need to be there.
Flights are not exactly cheap,so going to be there for two
weeks and it's like, well, itfeels kind of gross too launch a
store and then be gone for twoweeks, right at holiday time.
So instead what I'm doing, issoft, launching to basically my
Facebook, which is really justpeople that I know personally.
(10:48):
To where it's friends and familywho have also seen me posting
about this off and on.
We're not going to talk abouthow many years.
And I decided, you know, what?
It's time.
Let's just, we'll do a softlaunch.
We'll see how it goes.
We'll see how much I actuallysell, I'll, go out of town.
And then after that point, Iwill assess my inventory and
(11:11):
then launch for real, dependingon how much I need to create,
because hopefully they buy alot.
We'll see.
I'm also just going to startwith Etsy because it's the
easiest.
I know it's got a lot of issuesand some very valid issues, but
I decided that just because I'vebeen hesitating on this for so
long that let's just get startedwith an Etsy store and, as long
(11:36):
as I can keep up with it thenall right.
I'm going to eventually create aseparate website where folks can
shop.
And here's another interestingthing that has kind of been.
a point of debate is (11:49):
all of this has so far been intended to
be under the LightheartAdventures brand name.
And that was something thatBrenton and I were discussing a
lot was the fact that, okay,we've got the Patreon with the
maps.
We've got freelance projectmanagement.
We've got this podcast, and nowwe have pet merch and while
(12:11):
they're all loosely related bybeing tabletop related.
I just, it feels like a lot tothrow under one brand.
And so what we're doing at leastfor now is keeping it all under
the same LLC, keeping it allunder the same brand.
But we're going to break it up alittle bit.
(12:35):
So I already, after basicallyleaving Twitter and creating
accounts on threads and bluesky, I've got a Roll Play, Grow
account now on those platforms,that's separate from the
Lightheart Adventures account.
And so, because this podcast ismeant to be business focused.
We figured that it makes themost sense for me to be
advertising project managementon the Roll Play, Grow accounts.
(12:57):
Whereas the pet accessories,well, A different audience,
technically in that it's petstuff is still on the more
artistic side, which goes alongwith his maps.
And plus Brenton's the onethat's drawing both of those
things.
So we're going to try it out andwe'll see what works.
The feed might look a littleweird because we'll be
advertising maps and also petthings, but you know what.
(13:20):
We'll figure it out.
Like I said, we're just throwingeverything at the wall to see
what sticks.
So it's kind of how we'rethinking about dividing those
things up.
I also have been intending tomake some project management
templates that would go alongwith offering the consultation.
And.
Some of it is at least thefirst.
(13:43):
Batch of those templates will bemore TTRPG focused.
So if you've got projects thatyou're working on and games,
then.
You can grab those templates,but honestly, They will work for
pretty much any kind of projectout there.
So TBD on how I progress onthat.
I've definitely been dealingwith a lot of, uh,
(14:04):
Procrastination on that front.
So that's all of the thingsunder the Lightheart Adventures
umbrella.
Meanwhile, because I obviouslydon't have enough going on, I
decided to start a new venturethat began really about two
(14:25):
weeks ago.
So something else that I've beenthinking about for a really long
time is wanting to have somesocial media accounts around my
chronic illness.
So Brenton and I have talked afair a couple of years now about
traveling full-time for at leasta year or two.
You know, getting an RV or afifth wheel, most likely.
(14:48):
And just traveling around thecountry and exploring, seeing
the sites, deciding where wewould want to settle next,
because honestly, we have movedaround a lot in our
relationship.
And it's just been a dream andthere's been a lot of things
that have caused us to push thatdream back or think that it may
(15:09):
not happen at all.
It's been a bit of a strugglejust to know, will this happen
or not?
Especially just with the waythat my health has been.
I still don't know if it's goingto happen.
I still really want it tohappen.
And one of the ideas I thoughtabout for, okay, how can I
sustain this would be.
To have some sort of accountthat was focused on traveling
(15:31):
full time when you're disabledor when you have a chronic
illness.
And I came up with all thesenames, like the chronically ill
hiker or the chronically illtraveler.
But the problem with those namesis that I felt like it would be
misleading if I wasn't alreadytraveling and hiking.
And that's not something thatI'm set up to do right now.
(15:52):
Like I can't even sit in achair, like, how am I supposed
to drive across the country?
You know?
Or like, I can walk on flatsurfaces for a short amount of
time, but I certainly can't goon a hike.
And while maybe that's just mebeing in my head, it felt it
would be a little misleading ifI had that name.
And so I finally decided thatthe accounts that I would want
(16:15):
to make would be focused onbringing awareness to the types
of disabilities that I have.
Namely that I've got a geneticdisorder called Marfan's
syndrome.
It's a connective tissuedisorder.
I have pots or posturalorthostatic tachycardia
syndrome.
And I've honestly just gonethrough a lot over the last
(16:38):
couple of years, let alone allof my life.
And so a lot of the account isgoing to be raising awareness
about these things.
Talking about things like how toadvocate for yourself at the
doctor's office, because a lotof doctors will Gaslight you, or
if you need to apply for socialsecurity disability, here's some
(17:00):
things that can help in thisreally ridiculous, complicated a
process that our government has.
I'll also, of course go into thetrends of TikTok and things.
So there'll be a lot of more funvideos interspersed in between
the more educational ones.
I want to raise awareness.
(17:21):
And then I've also decided thatI want to create templates for
medical binders.
So, you know, you go into thedoctor's office and you've
already got all of your symptomslisted out.
You've got your medications,your diagnoses.
All this fun stuff.
But then of course alsotrackers.
So let's say that you have POTSand your heart rate is all over
(17:45):
the place.
Having a place to write downlike what your heart rate is of
what was the triggering eventsfor that?
I brainstormed a whole long listof ideas.
Well, I'll just see how it goes.
but I think that offering someof the templates that I use
myself could be helpful.
And it could be something thatevolves into another product
(18:06):
line that I'm able to offer inthe future.
So, like I said, there's a lotgoing on.
I'm probably biting off way morethan I can chew, especially when
you consider just how much I'mstill struggling with my health.
But all of this is intended tobe a way to really help me be
(18:28):
able to do work that I love thatI'm enjoying while not having to
worry about going back into anoffice for 40 plus hours a week,
because just to be completelyFrank, my body's not equipped
for that right now and I have torespect that.
So, whatever it is, that is yourreason for wanting to start your
(18:50):
own business I do appreciatethat y'all are here and I hope
that me sharing my struggles ishelpful for you.
Because hopefully, you know, wecan talk about the mistakes that
I make and that will help youavoid mistakes.
If I find something that reallyworks, then I want to share that
(19:10):
with you.
So I know that maybe this isn'tquite as exciting as the super
cool interviews that we do, butI do want to start interspersing
these shorter episodes in hereso that y'all can kind of keep
up with me.
It helps me stay accountable andactually be motivated to get
things done, because I know thatI have to tell you that I did a
thing.
(19:31):
Even if I don't necessarily feellike doing it.
But overall.
I'm excited to launch thislittle mini series, if you will.
And I hope that y'all are alsoexcited about it.
If there are any specific topicsthat y'all want me to cover
please, let me know.
You can send me an email at RollPlay grow at gmail.com.
(19:53):
You can find me on blue skythreads.
I am still technically onTwitter.
Although, not with a Roll PlayGrow account.
That would be Ketra.
Dot RPG.
Either way, let me know what youare interested in hearing about.
If you've got any questions.
Even if you just want to offersome support As I venture into
(20:15):
probably way too many things allat once.
Then, let me know.
I would love to hear from you.
Hello friends.
We are going to start somethingnew today, and in today's
episode, it's just going to beme.
My intention when starting thispodcast back in 2021, was to
focus on merging business withTTRPGs.
Now, while Matt isn't able tojoin as my co-host for now, I
did like how we were going to doa deep dive on specific topics
(00:53):
and shorter episodes in betweeninterviews.
And that's something that I wantto keep doing.
I haven't fully decided on howthis is going to look or how
often it'll be yet as talking tomyself for awhile seems strange.
And it is something that I'llhave to get used to.
To kick all of this off.
I am in a period of transitionand starting a lot of new
(01:14):
things.
I thought it could beinteresting for you all if I
went over the current state ofeverything that I'm trying in
this self-employment state.
I'm trying out multipleventures, and I think being
transparent about my processesand what works or doesn't work
could provide you with someideas or inspiration in your own
endeavors.
Plus putting it all out there isa form of accountability for
(01:36):
myself, especially if I plan tokeep you updated on a regular
basis as I go.
As I said, I'm in the middle ofmultiple things that are in the
early stages and it feels kindof like a throw everything at
the wall and see what stickssituation.
Ever since my latest surgery inJanuary, I've had a hard time
being able to sit or stand formore than a few minutes at a
(01:58):
time.
It makes looking for full-timework frankly, feel impossible,
which is part of the reason whyI am trying all of these things
on my own.
It also makes it a bit difficultto work on my projects
consistently, as I never knowhow much time I'll be able to
devote on any given day.
But all that being said, I dohave a lot of ideas and I intend
(02:18):
to do my best to get them going.
Let's break it all down.
In future episodes, if y'all areinterested, I can go into more
detail of exactly what steps I'mtaking for each of these
activities, and maybe even acost breakdown, but for now,
let's just do a high leveloverview of all of it.
First off we, of course have,Lightheart Adventures.
(02:40):
Lightheart is the business thatmy husband and I started back in
2019.
It began as a Brenton writingblog posts, making one-shot
adventures for D&D and drawingbattle maps for those
adventures.
He also published multiple mapcollections for D&D adventures
on DMsGuild.
I worked in the backend on theadmin side of things and created
(03:01):
the website.
We eventually added a Patreonand this podcast and he stopped
making blog posts and theDMsGuild publication so that he
could focus on the one shots forPatreon.
We were able to also add somemore income to the business when
he became a freelance writer forWyrd games, the makers of
Malifaux, and Through theBreach.
(03:22):
So let's talk about where I comein.
I obviously have this podcast.
Sadly, it does not bring anyincome in right now, but that's
all right.
I love chatting with folks, andhonestly, it's been a really
great way to network.
Then about two years ago, Ibecame a project manager for
(03:42):
Burnaway, which was the TTRPGthat has actually a finished
layout and is about to get sentoff to the printers.
So super excited to get thatbook in a few more months and
actually have something with myname in the credits.
That was an interestingsituation because it was that
creator and my first attempt ata Kickstarter.
(04:05):
And so we agreed that I'd keepmy rates pretty low because I
would be learning the processalongside him.
And it's taken a while to get tothis point, but we're here and
it was a fabulous way to learn.
About six months ago, I addedanother client and we will be
launching a few crowdfundingprojects next year.
So combining these experienceswith my decade of full-time
(04:28):
project management roles incorporate settings is why I am
moving forward into the first ofthe new ventures.
Which is that I've officiallyset myself up as a freelance
TTRPG project manager.
This is pretty new.
I was going back and forth for awhile on whether I should set up
(04:49):
a whole new website for myself.
Or if I should just add a pageto the Lightheart Adventures
site and eventually decided tostop using that as a stalling
tactic.
And for now, I just have a newpage on the Lightheart
Adventures website.
It's very much targeted towardsTTRPG projects or other gaming
(05:10):
projects.
I think eventually I can setmyself up to have my own project
management, freelance websitethat makes it a little more
inviting to other industries.
But honestly, the gamingprojects are my favorite and
what I would love to focus on.
Since I just finished settingthis up, all I've really done so
far is just announced that itexists on some social media
(05:34):
platforms and also in a bunch ofdifferent discord servers that
I'm in.
Obviously I need to do a lotmore than that.
But we'll get there.
We'll get there.
I think I spent the most time inthis actual setup process, just
trying to figure out a calendarscheduling system so that people
could just book an appointmentwith me without having to email
(05:58):
me, and go back and forth andjust all of that fun hassle that
adds way too many steps to theprocess.
So if you go to the page, now,what you see is that I've got
three different packages.
The first two have specificprices because it's like, okay,
you're going to hire me for anhour long conversation where you
know what you're doing for themost part.
(06:18):
You just want some advice onlike a specific thing.
The middle package is set up tobe aware.
You can hire me for threesessions that are all an hour
long, and it's essentially tohelp you get kickstarted with
starting your project.
Helping you learn how to make aproject board and what needs to
be on the project board and justgo over specific topics.
(06:39):
You have questions on.
And then the third one, there'sno set price on it because it's
okay.
At that point, you're hiring meto be your project manager.
So we got to talk about whatthat entails and how much
commitment it's going to take.
It's been a lot to get that setup and I have no idea how well
this is going to go, but it'sthe first of the new, big things
(06:59):
that I am starting.
So then there's comes the nextthing, which if you've been
listening to this podcast for awhile, or if you have been
following me on social media fora couple of years, then you'll
know that I have sporadicallybeen working towards starting an
(07:20):
online shop that has nothing todo with project management.
But does kind of have somethingto do with TTRPG related
endeavors.
First, got this idea a couple ofyears ago when I was going
through my first bout of medicalstuff and didn't have a job and
all those fun things.
And essentially I decided that Iwanted to create some nerdy pet
(07:47):
accessories.
There's so many people out therethat make bandanas and bow ties
and collars and all sorts of funthings.
But if you actually try to findlike D&D specific designs.
There's really not a whole lotout there.
You might find a couple withdice.
That's about it.
And so Brenton and I were justchatting and trying to
(08:07):
brainstorm some things that Ifelt like I could do while I was
not able to work full time.
And we came up with this idea tohave Brenton design these
patterns that were based on D&Dclasses.
And that we could have itprinted on fabric that I would
then use to create my ownaccessories.
(08:30):
So I got started with this anddecided that for initial launch,
that we would do four patternsand I came up with four sizes
for collars and bandanas and twosizes for bow ties and that I
would make 10 of each.
So.
10 extra small collars, 10 smallcollars, 10 medium, 10 large
(08:52):
collars.
For each of the four patterns,because I just felt like a good
starting blank.
And then I could see what wasselling and what was not
selling.
And if this was even somethingthat was going to be feasible.
That's all I was working on itoff and on.
In between bouts of medical,flare ups and whatnot.
And then I wound up getting afull-time job and because of the
medical stuff, I just wasn'table to focus on sewing and
(09:17):
actually getting an Etsy storeset up or what have you.
And so it was just a lot.
And I felt really guilty aboutit because I'd been working so
hard towards this.
But I just had to honor my bodyand just be able to focus on the
full-time job and then thispodcast, and then just.
Decided at some point I wasgoing to come back to it.
(09:39):
Fast-forward through three moresurgeries, and now that I'm not
working full time.
It's time to move forward withus.
So I'm honestly in a weirdposition right now where, I've
been putting this off for solong and I really need to get
this going.
And I had this whole plan whereI just spent this last week out
(10:01):
of town about an hour and a halfaway, house sitting and pet
sitting for my sister-in-law.
And decided, okay, I'm going touse this week.
I'm going to get all thelistings set up because I
finally finished sewing thoseinitial ones.
It's going to be great.
And then I'll just launch when Iget back.
And then my dad is now havingsurgery two days before
Thanksgiving.
And I went well..
I have to go to Florida becausegoing to be just scary time,
(10:24):
need to be there.
Flights are not exactly cheap,so going to be there for two
weeks and it's like, well, itfeels kind of gross too launch a
store and then be gone for twoweeks, right at holiday time.
So instead what I'm doing, issoft, launching to basically my
Facebook, which is really justpeople that I know personally.
(10:48):
To where it's friends and familywho have also seen me posting
about this off and on.
We're not going to talk abouthow many years.
And I decided, you know, what?
It's time.
Let's just, we'll do a softlaunch.
We'll see how it goes.
We'll see how much I actuallysell, I'll, go out of town.
And then after that point, Iwill assess my inventory and
(11:11):
then launch for real, dependingon how much I need to create,
because hopefully they buy alot.
We'll see.
I'm also just going to startwith Etsy because it's the
easiest.
I know it's got a lot of issuesand some very valid issues, but
I decided that just because I'vebeen hesitating on this for so
long that let's just get startedwith an Etsy store and, as long
(11:36):
as I can keep up with it thenall right.
I'm going to eventually create aseparate website where folks can
shop.
And here's another interestingthing that has kind of been.
a point of debate is (11:49):
all of this has so far been intended to
be under the LightheartAdventures brand name.
And that was something thatBrenton and I were discussing a
lot was the fact that, okay,we've got the Patreon with the
maps.
We've got freelance projectmanagement.
We've got this podcast, and nowwe have pet merch and while
(12:11):
they're all loosely related bybeing tabletop related.
I just, it feels like a lot tothrow under one brand.
And so what we're doing at leastfor now is keeping it all under
the same LLC, keeping it allunder the same brand.
But we're going to break it up alittle bit.
(12:35):
So I already, after basicallyleaving Twitter and creating
accounts on threads and bluesky, I've got a Roll Play, Grow
account now on those platforms,that's separate from the
Lightheart Adventures account.
And so, because this podcast ismeant to be business focused.
We figured that it makes themost sense for me to be
advertising project managementon the Roll Play, Grow accounts.
(12:57):
Whereas the pet accessories,well, A different audience,
technically in that it's petstuff is still on the more
artistic side, which goes alongwith his maps.
And plus Brenton's the onethat's drawing both of those
things.
So we're going to try it out andwe'll see what works.
The feed might look a littleweird because we'll be
advertising maps and also petthings, but you know what.
(13:20):
We'll figure it out.
Like I said, we're just throwingeverything at the wall to see
what sticks.
So it's kind of how we'rethinking about dividing those
things up.
I also have been intending tomake some project management
templates that would go alongwith offering the consultation.
And.
Some of it is at least thefirst.
(13:43):
Batch of those templates will bemore TTRPG focused.
So if you've got projects thatyou're working on and games,
then.
You can grab those templates,but honestly, They will work for
pretty much any kind of projectout there.
So TBD on how I progress onthat.
I've definitely been dealingwith a lot of, uh,
(14:04):
Procrastination on that front.
So that's all of the thingsunder the Lightheart Adventures
umbrella.
Meanwhile, because I obviouslydon't have enough going on, I
decided to start a new venturethat began really about two
(14:25):
weeks ago.
So something else that I've beenthinking about for a really long
time is wanting to have somesocial media accounts around my
chronic illness.
So Brenton and I have talked afair a couple of years now about
traveling full-time for at leasta year or two.
You know, getting an RV or afifth wheel, most likely.
(14:48):
And just traveling around thecountry and exploring, seeing
the sites, deciding where wewould want to settle next,
because honestly, we have movedaround a lot in our
relationship.
And it's just been a dream andthere's been a lot of things
that have caused us to push thatdream back or think that it may
(15:09):
not happen at all.
It's been a bit of a strugglejust to know, will this happen
or not?
Especially just with the waythat my health has been.
I still don't know if it's goingto happen.
I still really want it tohappen.
And one of the ideas I thoughtabout for, okay, how can I
sustain this would be.
To have some sort of accountthat was focused on traveling
(15:31):
full time when you're disabledor when you have a chronic
illness.
And I came up with all thesenames, like the chronically ill
hiker or the chronically illtraveler.
But the problem with those namesis that I felt like it would be
misleading if I wasn't alreadytraveling and hiking.
And that's not something thatI'm set up to do right now.
(15:52):
Like I can't even sit in achair, like, how am I supposed
to drive across the country?
You know?
Or like, I can walk on flatsurfaces for a short amount of
time, but I certainly can't goon a hike.
And while maybe that's just mebeing in my head, it felt it
would be a little misleading ifI had that name.
And so I finally decided thatthe accounts that I would want
(16:15):
to make would be focused onbringing awareness to the types
of disabilities that I have.
Namely that I've got a geneticdisorder called Marfan's
syndrome.
It's a connective tissuedisorder.
I have pots or posturalorthostatic tachycardia
syndrome.
And I've honestly just gonethrough a lot over the last
(16:38):
couple of years, let alone allof my life.
And so a lot of the account isgoing to be raising awareness
about these things.
Talking about things like how toadvocate for yourself at the
doctor's office, because a lotof doctors will Gaslight you, or
if you need to apply for socialsecurity disability, here's some
(17:00):
things that can help in thisreally ridiculous, complicated a
process that our government has.
I'll also, of course go into thetrends of TikTok and things.
So there'll be a lot of more funvideos interspersed in between
the more educational ones.
I want to raise awareness.
(17:21):
And then I've also decided thatI want to create templates for
medical binders.
So, you know, you go into thedoctor's office and you've
already got all of your symptomslisted out.
You've got your medications,your diagnoses.
All this fun stuff.
But then of course alsotrackers.
So let's say that you have POTSand your heart rate is all over
(17:45):
the place.
Having a place to write downlike what your heart rate is of
what was the triggering eventsfor that?
I brainstormed a whole long listof ideas.
Well, I'll just see how it goes.
but I think that offering someof the templates that I use
myself could be helpful.
And it could be something thatevolves into another product
(18:06):
line that I'm able to offer inthe future.
So, like I said, there's a lotgoing on.
I'm probably biting off way morethan I can chew, especially when
you consider just how much I'mstill struggling with my health.
But all of this is intended tobe a way to really help me be
(18:28):
able to do work that I love thatI'm enjoying while not having to
worry about going back into anoffice for 40 plus hours a week,
because just to be completelyFrank, my body's not equipped
for that right now and I have torespect that.
So, whatever it is, that is yourreason for wanting to start your
(18:50):
own business I do appreciatethat y'all are here and I hope
that me sharing my struggles ishelpful for you.
Because hopefully, you know, wecan talk about the mistakes that
I make and that will help youavoid mistakes.
If I find something that reallyworks, then I want to share that
(19:10):
with you.
So I know that maybe this isn'tquite as exciting as the super
cool interviews that we do, butI do want to start interspersing
these shorter episodes in hereso that y'all can kind of keep
up with me.
It helps me stay accountable andactually be motivated to get
things done, because I know thatI have to tell you that I did a
thing.
(19:31):
Even if I don't necessarily feellike doing it.
But overall.
I'm excited to launch thislittle mini series, if you will.
And I hope that y'all are alsoexcited about it.
If there are any specific topicsthat y'all want me to cover
please, let me know.
You can send me an email at RollPlay grow at gmail.com.
(19:53):
You can find me on blue skythreads.
I am still technically onTwitter.
Although, not with a Roll PlayGrow account.
That would be Ketra.
Dot RPG.
Either way, let me know what youare interested in hearing about.
If you've got any questions.
Even if you just want to offersome support As I venture into
(20:15):
probably way too many things allat once.
Then, let me know.
I would love to hear from you.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Intentionally Disturbing
Join me on this podcast as I navigate the murky waters of human behavior, current events, and personal anecdotes through in-depth interviews with incredible people—all served with a generous helping of sarcasm and satire. After years as a forensic and clinical psychologist, I offer a unique interview style and a low tolerance for bullshit, quickly steering conversations toward depth and darkness. I honor the seriousness while also appreciating wit. I’m your guide through the twisted labyrinth of the human psyche, armed with dark humor and biting wit.